Micro-Reflection on Classroom Communication; A FAB Framework; Waring; Creider - Equinox Publishing

Hansun Zhang Waring [+–]

Teachers College, Columbia University

Hansun Zhang Waring is Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics & TESOL at Columbia University Teachers College.

Sarah Chepkirui Creider [+–]

Teachers College, Columbia University

Sarah Chepkirui Creider is a Lecturer at Teachers College, Columbia University.

Traditional concerns with classroom communication have centered on questions such as who talks more, whether the interaction is teacher-centered or student-centered, whether participation is restricted to a few or available to all, what kinds of questions teachers ask, and what kinds of feedback they give. These indicators provide a simple and useful way of capturing classroom communication in distributional and categorical terms. Less attention has been devoted to observing and understanding the quality of this communication — whether it facilitates learning regardless of, for example, who talks more.

Based on over a decade of fine-grained analysis of video-recorded ESL classroom interaction, this book offers one way of seeing and gauging the quality of classroom communication beyond distributions and categories. In particular, by parsing detailed transcripts of actual classroom interaction, it invites reflective conversations on how three principles of skillful classroom communication may be practiced in the micro-moments of classroom interaction: fostering an inviting environment, attending to student voices, and balancing competing demands (FAB). The goal is to cultivate a mentality of micro-reflection—one that sensitizes teachers to the consequentiality of every move they make as they make them in the simultaneity and sequentiality of second-by-second classroom interaction.

Series: Reflective Practice in Language Education

Table of Contents

Prelims

Editor’s Preface [+–] ix-x

Hansun Zhang Waring,Sarah Chepkirui Creider

Teachers College, Columbia University

Hansun Zhang Waring is Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics & TESOL at Columbia University Teachers College.

Teachers College, Columbia University

Sarah Chepkirui Creider is a Lecturer at Teachers College, Columbia University.

Traditional concerns with classroom communication have centered on questions such as who talks more, whether the interaction is teacher-centered or student-centered, whether participation is restricted to a few or available to all, what kinds of questions teachers ask (display or referential), and what kinds of feedback they give. These indicators provide a simple and useful way of capturing classroom communication in distributional and categorical terms. Less attention has been devoted to observing and understanding the quality of this communication—whether it facilitates learning regardless of, for example, who talks more. Based on over a decade of fine-grained analysis of video-recorded ESL classroom interaction, this book offers one way of seeing and gauging the quality of classroom communication beyond distributions and categories. In particular, by parsing detailed transcripts of actual classroom interaction, it invites reflective conversations on how three principles of skillful classroom communication may be practiced in the micro-moments of classroom interaction: (1) fostering an inviting classroom environment, (2) attending to student voices, and (3) balancing competing demands (FAB). Attention to the moment-by-moment complexity of the classroom also allows teachers to learn and practice the skill of noticing, the first step in an iterative cycle of noticing, reflecting, and practicing. That is, along with reflecting on what happened in a classroom, teachers must also learn to notice what is happening in the moment. The goal is to cultivate a mentality of micro-reflection—one that sensitizes teachers to the consequentiality of every move they make as they make them in the simultaneity and sequentiality of second-by-second classroom interaction.

Acknowledgements [+–] xi-xii

Hansun Zhang Waring,Sarah Chepkirui Creider

Teachers College, Columbia University

Hansun Zhang Waring is Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics & TESOL at Columbia University Teachers College.

Teachers College, Columbia University

Sarah Chepkirui Creider is a Lecturer at Teachers College, Columbia University.

Traditional concerns with classroom communication have centered on questions such as who talks more, whether the interaction is teacher-centered or student-centered, whether participation is restricted to a few or available to all, what kinds of questions teachers ask (display or referential), and what kinds of feedback they give. These indicators provide a simple and useful way of capturing classroom communication in distributional and categorical terms. Less attention has been devoted to observing and understanding the quality of this communication—whether it facilitates learning regardless of, for example, who talks more. Based on over a decade of fine-grained analysis of video-recorded ESL classroom interaction, this book offers one way of seeing and gauging the quality of classroom communication beyond distributions and categories. In particular, by parsing detailed transcripts of actual classroom interaction, it invites reflective conversations on how three principles of skillful classroom communication may be practiced in the micro-moments of classroom interaction: (1) fostering an inviting classroom environment, (2) attending to student voices, and (3) balancing competing demands (FAB). Attention to the moment-by-moment complexity of the classroom also allows teachers to learn and practice the skill of noticing, the first step in an iterative cycle of noticing, reflecting, and practicing. That is, along with reflecting on what happened in a classroom, teachers must also learn to notice what is happening in the moment. The goal is to cultivate a mentality of micro-reflection—one that sensitizes teachers to the consequentiality of every move they make as they make them in the simultaneity and sequentiality of second-by-second classroom interaction.

Chapter 1

Introduction [+–] 1-17

Hansun Zhang Waring,Sarah Chepkirui Creider

Teachers College, Columbia University

Hansun Zhang Waring is Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics & TESOL at Columbia University Teachers College.

Teachers College, Columbia University

Sarah Chepkirui Creider is a Lecturer at Teachers College, Columbia University.

After contextualizing and establishing the importance of what we call “micro-reflection” on classroom communication, this opening chapter introduces the readers to the theoretical principles as well as the empirical grounding underpinning the FAB framework for reflecting on classroom communication, where FAB stands for (1) fostering an inviting environment; (2) attending to student voices; (3) balancing competing demands.

Chapter 2

Foster an Inviting Environment [+–] 18-59

Hansun Zhang Waring,Sarah Chepkirui Creider

Teachers College, Columbia University

Hansun Zhang Waring is Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics & TESOL at Columbia University Teachers College.

Teachers College, Columbia University

Sarah Chepkirui Creider is a Lecturer at Teachers College, Columbia University.

Fostering an inviting environment is a baseline requirement that enables productive learning, which expert teachers accomplish effortlessly. Using a great variety of transcripts from actual classroom interaction that capture a full range of interactional details, this chapter takes the readers through a four-stage process of developing an ability to engage in micro-reflection on fostering an inviting environment. (1) What we do offers a guided reading of how such an inviting environment may be created–not by lavishing perfunctory praise, but through the four practices of validating student contributions, favoring student potentials, neutralizing asymmetries, and promoting exploratory talk. (2) What we use leads the readers through a forensic examination of the specific features of talk, gesture, and environment drawn upon to enable the aforementioned practices. (3) What we notice offers a series of exercises that invite the readers to identify practices and their enabling features in another set of transcripts and in their own teaching. (4) What we practice provides a list of practical tasks for the readers to complete both during their teaching and as they consider recordings and observations of their own and others’ teaching with a focus on the practices and enabling features that foster an inviting environment.

Chapter 3

Attend to Learner Voices [+–] 60-83

Hansun Zhang Waring,Sarah Chepkirui Creider

Teachers College, Columbia University

Hansun Zhang Waring is Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics & TESOL at Columbia University Teachers College.

Teachers College, Columbia University

Sarah Chepkirui Creider is a Lecturer at Teachers College, Columbia University.

To a large extent, the quality of classroom communication hinges upon the teacher’s ability to tune in and respond to emerging students’ voices. Using a great variety of transcripts from actual classroom interaction that capture a full range of interactional details, this chapter takes the readers through a four-stage process of developing an ability to engage in micro-reflection on attending student voices. (1) What we do offers a guided reading of how attending to student voices in real time requires the astuteness and agility to hear layered messages, offer tailored assistance, follow students’ leads, and work from within their world. It requires making specific responsive moves at specific times. (2) What we use leads the readers through a forensic examination of the specific features of talk, gesture, and environment drawn upon to enable the aforementioned practices. (3) What we notice offers a series of exercises that invite the readers to identify practices and their enabling features in another set of transcripts and in their own teaching. (4) What we practice provides a list of practical tasks for the readers to complete both during their teaching and as they consider recordings and observations of their own and others’ teaching with a focus on the practices and enabling features that attend to student voices.

Chapter 4

Balance Competing Demands [+–] 84-110

Hansun Zhang Waring,Sarah Chepkirui Creider

Teachers College, Columbia University

Hansun Zhang Waring is Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics & TESOL at Columbia University Teachers College.

Teachers College, Columbia University

Sarah Chepkirui Creider is a Lecturer at Teachers College, Columbia University.

The classroom is an environment replete with competing demands: the drive to promote participation, for example, may compete with the necessity of order, the mandate to evaluate, or the very essential goal of ensuring learning. Using a great variety of transcripts from actual classroom interaction that capture a full range of interactional details, this chapter takes the readers through a four-stage process of developing an ability to engage in micro-reflection on balancing competing demands. (1) What we do offers a guided reading to help teachers become sensitized to the multiple demands that plague classroom communication and to show how a delicate balance may be achieved via such practices as embedding conversation in IRF (Initiation-Response-Feedback), assimilating learner voice, alluding to the institutional frame, and finally, deploying a multimodal solution.(2) What we use leads the readers through a forensic examination of the specific features of talk, gesture, and environment drawn upon to enable the aforementioned practices. (3) What we notice offers a series of exercises that invite the readers to identify practices and their enabling features in another set of transcripts and in their own teaching. (4) What we practice provides a list of practical tasks for the readers to complete both during their teaching and as they consider recordings and observations of their own and others’ teaching with a focus on the practices and enabling features that balance competing demands.

Chapter 5

The FAB Classroom: Bringing It All Together [+–] 111-130

Hansun Zhang Waring,Sarah Chepkirui Creider

Teachers College, Columbia University

Hansun Zhang Waring is Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics & TESOL at Columbia University Teachers College.

Teachers College, Columbia University

Sarah Chepkirui Creider is a Lecturer at Teachers College, Columbia University.

This chapter begins with an exhibit that demonstrates how the three aspects of the FAB framework come together in the “messy” reality of the classroom. Indeed, in real life, the three principles often converge and are managed in a single moment. Thus, it is via micro-reflection that teachers can move from these principles to an integrated practice that constitutes the exciting complexity of teaching. The chapter concludes by recontextualizing the four-stage process of developing the ability of micro-reflection (do, use, notice, practice) as an iterative cycle of noticing, reflecting and practicing.

Chapter 6

Conclusion [+–] 131-137

Hansun Zhang Waring,Sarah Chepkirui Creider

Teachers College, Columbia University

Hansun Zhang Waring is Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics & TESOL at Columbia University Teachers College.

Teachers College, Columbia University

Sarah Chepkirui Creider is a Lecturer at Teachers College, Columbia University.

The concluding chapter situates the discussion of micro-reflection within the larger context of language teacher education. In particular, we discuss the implications of micro-reflection for teacher assessment, its affordances for teacher empowerment, and finally, its leverage to illuminate and magnify the humanity of the classroom. The chapter ends with an argument for moving from micro-reflection towards a “micro-revolution” of classroom interaction, suggesting that changing teacher-student dynamics and promoting student agency begins at the micro-level.

End Matter

Appendix A: Transcription Notations [+–] 138-139

Hansun Zhang Waring,Sarah Chepkirui Creider

Teachers College, Columbia University

Hansun Zhang Waring is Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics & TESOL at Columbia University Teachers College.

Teachers College, Columbia University

Sarah Chepkirui Creider is a Lecturer at Teachers College, Columbia University.

Traditional concerns with classroom communication have centered on questions such as who talks more, whether the interaction is teacher-centered or student-centered, whether participation is restricted to a few or available to all, what kinds of questions teachers ask (display or referential), and what kinds of feedback they give. These indicators provide a simple and useful way of capturing classroom communication in distributional and categorical terms. Less attention has been devoted to observing and understanding the quality of this communication—whether it facilitates learning regardless of, for example, who talks more. Based on over a decade of fine-grained analysis of video-recorded ESL classroom interaction, this book offers one way of seeing and gauging the quality of classroom communication beyond distributions and categories. In particular, by parsing detailed transcripts of actual classroom interaction, it invites reflective conversations on how three principles of skillful classroom communication may be practiced in the micro-moments of classroom interaction: (1) fostering an inviting classroom environment, (2) attending to student voices, and (3) balancing competing demands (FAB). Attention to the moment-by-moment complexity of the classroom also allows teachers to learn and practice the skill of noticing, the first step in an iterative cycle of noticing, reflecting, and practicing. That is, along with reflecting on what happened in a classroom, teachers must also learn to notice what is happening in the moment. The goal is to cultivate a mentality of micro-reflection—one that sensitizes teachers to the consequentiality of every move they make as they make them in the simultaneity and sequentiality of second-by-second classroom interaction.

Appendix B: List of Extracts [+–] 140-141

Hansun Zhang Waring,Sarah Chepkirui Creider

Teachers College, Columbia University

Hansun Zhang Waring is Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics & TESOL at Columbia University Teachers College.

Teachers College, Columbia University

Sarah Chepkirui Creider is a Lecturer at Teachers College, Columbia University.

Traditional concerns with classroom communication have centered on questions such as who talks more, whether the interaction is teacher-centered or student-centered, whether participation is restricted to a few or available to all, what kinds of questions teachers ask (display or referential), and what kinds of feedback they give. These indicators provide a simple and useful way of capturing classroom communication in distributional and categorical terms. Less attention has been devoted to observing and understanding the quality of this communication—whether it facilitates learning regardless of, for example, who talks more. Based on over a decade of fine-grained analysis of video-recorded ESL classroom interaction, this book offers one way of seeing and gauging the quality of classroom communication beyond distributions and categories. In particular, by parsing detailed transcripts of actual classroom interaction, it invites reflective conversations on how three principles of skillful classroom communication may be practiced in the micro-moments of classroom interaction: (1) fostering an inviting classroom environment, (2) attending to student voices, and (3) balancing competing demands (FAB). Attention to the moment-by-moment complexity of the classroom also allows teachers to learn and practice the skill of noticing, the first step in an iterative cycle of noticing, reflecting, and practicing. That is, along with reflecting on what happened in a classroom, teachers must also learn to notice what is happening in the moment. The goal is to cultivate a mentality of micro-reflection—one that sensitizes teachers to the consequentiality of every move they make as they make them in the simultaneity and sequentiality of second-by-second classroom interaction.

References [+–] 142-148

Hansun Zhang Waring,Sarah Chepkirui Creider

Teachers College, Columbia University

Hansun Zhang Waring is Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics & TESOL at Columbia University Teachers College.

Teachers College, Columbia University

Sarah Chepkirui Creider is a Lecturer at Teachers College, Columbia University.

Traditional concerns with classroom communication have centered on questions such as who talks more, whether the interaction is teacher-centered or student-centered, whether participation is restricted to a few or available to all, what kinds of questions teachers ask (display or referential), and what kinds of feedback they give. These indicators provide a simple and useful way of capturing classroom communication in distributional and categorical terms. Less attention has been devoted to observing and understanding the quality of this communication—whether it facilitates learning regardless of, for example, who talks more. Based on over a decade of fine-grained analysis of video-recorded ESL classroom interaction, this book offers one way of seeing and gauging the quality of classroom communication beyond distributions and categories. In particular, by parsing detailed transcripts of actual classroom interaction, it invites reflective conversations on how three principles of skillful classroom communication may be practiced in the micro-moments of classroom interaction: (1) fostering an inviting classroom environment, (2) attending to student voices, and (3) balancing competing demands (FAB). Attention to the moment-by-moment complexity of the classroom also allows teachers to learn and practice the skill of noticing, the first step in an iterative cycle of noticing, reflecting, and practicing. That is, along with reflecting on what happened in a classroom, teachers must also learn to notice what is happening in the moment. The goal is to cultivate a mentality of micro-reflection—one that sensitizes teachers to the consequentiality of every move they make as they make them in the simultaneity and sequentiality of second-by-second classroom interaction.

Index [+–] 149-150

Hansun Zhang Waring,Sarah Chepkirui Creider

Teachers College, Columbia University

Hansun Zhang Waring is Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics & TESOL at Columbia University Teachers College.

Teachers College, Columbia University

Sarah Chepkirui Creider is a Lecturer at Teachers College, Columbia University.

Traditional concerns with classroom communication have centered on questions such as who talks more, whether the interaction is teacher-centered or student-centered, whether participation is restricted to a few or available to all, what kinds of questions teachers ask (display or referential), and what kinds of feedback they give. These indicators provide a simple and useful way of capturing classroom communication in distributional and categorical terms. Less attention has been devoted to observing and understanding the quality of this communication—whether it facilitates learning regardless of, for example, who talks more. Based on over a decade of fine-grained analysis of video-recorded ESL classroom interaction, this book offers one way of seeing and gauging the quality of classroom communication beyond distributions and categories. In particular, by parsing detailed transcripts of actual classroom interaction, it invites reflective conversations on how three principles of skillful classroom communication may be practiced in the micro-moments of classroom interaction: (1) fostering an inviting classroom environment, (2) attending to student voices, and (3) balancing competing demands (FAB). Attention to the moment-by-moment complexity of the classroom also allows teachers to learn and practice the skill of noticing, the first step in an iterative cycle of noticing, reflecting, and practicing. That is, along with reflecting on what happened in a classroom, teachers must also learn to notice what is happening in the moment. The goal is to cultivate a mentality of micro-reflection—one that sensitizes teachers to the consequentiality of every move they make as they make them in the simultaneity and sequentiality of second-by-second classroom interaction.

Reviews

The complexity of teaching involves powerful micro-moments of choice; this is an understanding Waring and Creider guide the reader to reach in their book, MicroReflection on Classroom Communication: A FAB Framework, part of the series Reflective Practice in Language Education. The authors propose a framework for guiding teachers to capture and reflect on ‘micro-interventions’, the minute verbal and non-verbal characteristics of classroom interaction. Through this framework, the authors aim to revolutionise language teacher education and practice by guiding practitioners to recognise the power of these contingent moments and thereby use them to promote a more effective classroom environment. Their book, though challenging, presents a compelling argument for the inclusion of such reflection in professional development.
English Australia Journal